Tell the United Nations: Protect #MyBodyMyRights!

March 18, 2014 at 2:00 PM

I’ve just come from opening week at the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), when thousands of women’s rights activists and member state delegations descend on New York to review the current state of affairs for women and girls globally and recommend actions states can take to advance gender equality and promote female empowerment.

Many of the events this week are calling attention to sexual and reproductive rights as a primary barrier to development progress and the enjoyment of rights and dignity for all. The priority theme for the CSW this year is a review of progress for women and girls under the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

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Stand Up For Women’s Rights in Chicago at Amnesty’s Annual Human Rights Conference

By Julia Drost

March 7, 2014 at 10:00 AM

Violence devastates the lives of millions of women and girls worldwide every year (Photo Credit: Mahmud Khaled/AFP/Getty Images).

This article originally appeared in the Lawndale News under the title “Standing Up For Women’s Rights at Home and Abroad.”

A human rights abuse epidemic is happening right now in every corner of the globe. It has manifested in Mexico where twenty-six women were sexually assaulted by police in San Salvador, Atenco.

It has manifested in Guatemala when 15-year-old María Isabel Franco was raped and brutally killed, and in Afghanistan, where a women’s rights advocate was murdered in the street.

And it has manifested in Chicago, where nearly 1 in 5 Chicago youth experience violence in a dating relationship.

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How You Can Fight for Women & Girls Forced to Marry Their Rapists in Mozambique

By Sarah Hager

March 7, 2014 at 8:00 AM

Portrait of a mother with her child in Chimoio, Mozambique (Photo Credit: Ute Grabowsky/Photothek via Getty Images).

This month, Mozambique is considering draconian revisions to its criminal code that will allow accused rapists to escape punishment if they marry the sexual assault survivor.

To say this is a violation of the rights of the survivors is a gross understatement. The law not only minimizes the trauma of the survivor and ignores their rights to bodily integrity and not be subjected to torture, cruel, inhumane and and degrading treatment, it encourages impunity and escape from legal repercussions for heinous criminal violations.

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Celebrate International Women’s Day – Equality for Women Is Progress for All!

By Guest Writer

March 6, 2014 at 3:30 PM

By Rebecca Landy, Women’s Human Rights Coordination Group

Saturday, March 8 is International Women’s Day – a day marking global recognition of women’s rights. International Women’s Day (IWD) was first celebrated in 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland as a day of demanding women’s rights to work, hold office, and vote. It wasn’t until 1975 that it was given official U.N. recognition. Every year, the U.N. designates a theme for the day.

For 2014, the year’s theme is: Equality for Women is Progress for All.

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Have You Seen These Stunning Images Created for our My Body My Rights Campaign?

By The Editors

March 6, 2014 at 10:22 AM

The images are striking. A woman holds the key to her own body. Another woman’s wrist disappears, gives way to a blister pack of contraceptive pills. A pile of books are embedded in a man’s back.

These are some of the illustrations painted on real bodies by Tokyo-based artist Hikaru Cho to kick-start “My Body My Rights,” Amnesty International’s new global campaign on sexual and reproductive rights.

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BREAKING: President Karzai Rejects Law Rolling Back Violence Protections for Women

By Julia Drost

February 19, 2014 at 12:47 PM

Afghan university students and independent civil society activists take part in a demonstration in support of passing the Elimination of Violence against Women law in front of Parliament in Kabul (Photo Credit: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images).

This is what protecting human rights looks like: responding to resounding national and international outcry, including the voices of Afghan women and Amnesty activists around the world, early this week Afghan President Karzai blocked a new discriminatory law that would have denied justice to women and girls subjected to domestic violence, rape, and forced or child marriage.

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On the Desk of President Karzai: A New Discriminatory Law Against Afghan Women

By Julia Drost

February 14, 2014 at 8:00 AM

The deeply flawed Article prohibits the relatives of an accused individual from acting as witnesses during a criminal prosecution, including cases of violence against women (Photo Credit: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty Images).

President Karzai’s pen is poised to approve a revision to Afghanistan’s Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) passed by Parliament that will prove catastrophic for the ability to Afghan women and girls to seek justice when family members commit acts of violence against them. His signature could come within a week’s time.

The deeply flawed Article 26 (clauses 4 and 6) of the CPC prohibits the relatives of an accused individual from acting as witnesses during a criminal prosecution, including cases of violence against women. This would mean that testimonies of relatives witnessing the rape of a family member or an honor killing will not be taken into consideration – a major concern where violence, including domestic violence and forced or child marriage, is predominantly perpetrated and/or witnessed by family members.

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This Friday, Rise for Justice!

By Cristina Finch

February 11, 2014 at 11:48 AM

Amnesty activists at One Billion Rising demonstration in Times Square last year (Photo Credit: Amnesty International).

Amnesty is once again a sponsoring partner of One Billion Rising, V-DAY’s campaign to mobilize women and men across the world to demonstrate their collective strength and solidarity in support of justice and the elimination of violence against women and girls.

Violence against women is one of the world’s most pervasive violations of human rights. One out of every three women worldwide will experience physical or sexual abuse during her lifetime and in some countries, rates of violence reach as high as 70 percent.

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U.S. Congress Takes Another Critical Step to Help Afghan Women’s Rights and Security

By Julia Drost

December 20, 2013 at 12:15 PM

Lieutenant Islam Bibi Helmand’s top female police officer (R) talking to a colleague on March 8, 2013. Known as the most senior female police officer in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, Bibi was shot dead on July 4, 2013 by unknown gunmen while being driven to work. The attack is seen as part of a series violence against top women officials (Photo Credit: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images).

Elsie De Laere, our Afghanistan country specialist, co-authored this piece.

The situation is unfortunately not unfamiliar yet it deteriorates with each passing day: Afghan women working to protect and advance their rights continue to face growing threats to their lives and safety.

Well-documented threats to female Members of Parliament and government, women’s human rights defenders, and female police officers occur on a daily basis, all set against the terrifying backdrop of an uncertain future currently being shaped by attempts to revoke provisions of the country’s Elimination of Violence Against Women law and potential peace negotiations with the Taliban and other insurgent groups that threaten to rollback gains for women’s human rights.

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Why Won’t Congress Pass the International Violence Against Women Act?

By Cristina Finch

November 20, 2013 at 12:58 PM

Supporters of the Violence Against Women Act dance in Farragut Square as part of the V-DAY’s One Billion Rising dance party and rally to stop violence against women (Photo Credit: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call).

As November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, approaches and the International Violence Against Women Act is poised for reintroduction in the U.S. Congress, the time is now to prioritize ending violence against women and girls worldwide.

Violence against women takes many forms, including rape, domestic violence, female genital mutilation, and acid attacks, to name just a few. It’s a global human rights crisis that exacerbates instability and insecurity around the world.

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Tag Archives: women’s human rights defenders

Tell the United Nations: Protect #MyBodyMyRights!

Why Won’t Congress Pass the International Violence Against Women Act?